Former child actress Marcia Mae Jones, who was best known for starring in films like The Champ and Heidi, has died aged 83.

She made her film debut aged two in the Manhattan melodrama Mannequin, and her acting career spanned 47 years.

Jones's last major film appearance was in the 1973 movie, The Way We Were.

She died at the Motion Picture and Television Hospital in California from an infection which had been bought on by pneumonia, said her son, Tom Chic.

Although she never achieved the stardom of fellow child stars Shirley Temple and Mickey Rooney, Jones played important roles in such films as The Garden of Allah, The Adventures of Tom Sawyer and These Three.

As a teenager she took parts in Let's Go Collegiate and Secrets of a Co-Ed.

She also appeared in various TV shows and Westerns, including Wild Bill Hickok.

The actress is survived by two sons, Robert and Tim, two grandchildren and a brother, Joseph Jones.